Rejoice, for Bon Iver’s new album comes out today! Bon Iver, Bon Iver is the second album from folk it-dude Justin Vernon’s band, his first album being the overwhelmingly pretty, often-hyped For Emma, Forever Ago, the one that has the highest play count on my iTunes.

Of course the new album is also overwhelmingly pretty, but it is a bit warmer. Everything is much fuller, the songs change and transition delicately. And it can’t really be called straight-up folk anymore. Everything is more complex, some tracks have some subtle saxophone, and the guitar is soft and trickling. Vernon’s voice ranges from deep and sweet, to its trademark gentle falsetto.

Seriously, you need to listen to this with a good pair of headphones. Preferably you should be watching the sunset on a beach, but that’s not a requirement. Try “Towers”, or “Michicant”. Trust me, they’ll melt you like  buttah.

Something Pretty for Your Ears is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Nostalgia = brutal. is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

KZSC’s mail owl dropped a parcel from Marc Maynon, of Maynon (L.A.), at the doorstep to the little log cabin today. Enclosed was Maynon’s 4 track demo “Grand Horror Spectacle Songs” and a handwritten note, and the illustrated-by-hand single frame comic you see above. For your efforts Marc, I applaud you! I’m jealous of the King of the Dead’s psychedelic torquise+violet onesie. The real treat in this parcel, though: the music. Maynon are a perfect segue as we transition from summer into the labor and study of fall: waxy rhythms melt under a gloom of twilight synths and macabre beats. Marc’s vocals are bare and believably despairing. The third track, “I am a Vampire,” begins with a zombie-punk guitar riff that, once overwhelmed by a deluge of danceable bass and snare, gets torn to pieces by Marc as he channels one snide, heartsick vampire:  And if you thought that you forgot my face / did you forget that I would bite?

King of The Dead surfaces in KZSC mailbin is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

When this does happen, Paul A. Rosales–performing under his own name or as Wonder Wheel–will be crafting a sonic wicker lounger upon which you will be tempted to dance and, eventually, melt.  Rosales’ sound is an excavated pop, stripped of it’s syrup and shine, leaving behind a lustre of echoing vocals that spiral around the fuzzy color wheel of lo-fi synths and beats that Rosales manipulates with the terrifying dexterity of an artist whose bodily extremities can materialize the nightmares and sex fantasies that lurk deep within in his–and our own–sub-conscious. Honing his chops through collaborations with R. Stevie Moore, Rosales cuts some bomber tracks.

See for yourself in this video for “Crimes”

“Crimes” is currently available as a 7inch single on Care in the Community Recordings. It’s also the first track on his debut full-length, Wonder Wheel I –a welcome addition to our summer indie rotation.

Furniture-weaving/tape-recording his way to a club near you is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Helloooooo, Robert Mapplethorpe.

Listening to a Scissor Sisters album is like getting into a car with a friend who, while being brash and exciting, might lack a tiny bit of common sense and doesn’t give a damn about it. Finally, after four years, countless scrapped songs, and a near dissolution of the band, we can go on more magical adventures with Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Baby Daddy, and Del Marquis.

Instead of the theatrics of Ta-Dah and the enjoyable extremes of their self titled debut, Night Work is a seamless journey through a single evening of debauchery that starts off with a wink and a slap on the ass from title track.  As the “evening” progresses, the sweet and rapturous “Fire With Fire” and “Skintight” balance out the sleek and murky “Sex and Violence” and “Nightlife”, while the jangly dance pop the band is known for makes an appearance in “Whole New Way.” I am completely in love with “Skin This Cat”, which sounds like the tarty little sister of Nine Inch Nail’s “Closer” amongst the hints of B-52′s and Human League pepper the a rest of the songs. The ecstatic genre-hopping between glam rock, dance pop, and stark ballads from albums past is still there, but it is far more subtle. Really, it’s just a ridiculously smooth ride.

L to R: Baby Daddy, Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis

The album’s closing track and climax is the stunning “Invisible Light”, which was released as a pre-album teaser and is nothing short of a dramatic departure. Clocking in at six minutes, it is dark, almost orgasmic (yes, orgasmic) invitation to throw away your inhibitions and dance so fiercely that you forget your own name. Nestled in the middle of the throbbing, clubby breakdown is something surprising- a spoken word section, performed by none other than Sir Ian McKellan (hearing the man who portrayed Gandalf and Magneto speak about “painted whores” and “sexual gladiators” is just amazing.)

Night Work is truly an odyssey of glitter and glamor and far different from their previous releases, but that does not make it any less enjoyable. In fact, it is just as catty and outrageously fun; perfect for any sort of questionable summer antics you might find yourself in.

Night Work, gotta do the night work… is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

April in Paris conjures up images of tranquility; down in the south of France at Villa Nellcote during spring and summer 1971, not so much. Formerly occupied by Nazis trying to hide after WWII, the villa had a history of decadence. The Rolling Stones simply updated it with sex, drugs and rock & roll. Despite all their problems (check Robert Greenfield’s excellent account in the book, “Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones”) The Stones produced what many agree was their best recording and their only double-album. Even with all this music there was plenty left behind. On May 18th “Exile On Main Street” will be re-released in two deluxe packages: one with LPs, a book and DVD material, the other a CD-only package. Both contain ten songs not commercially available before:  alternate takes of Soul Survivor and Loving Cup (perhaps the drunken Keith version), Pass the Wine, I’m Not Signifying, Dancing in the Light, So Divine, Following the River, Plundered My Soul, Title 5 and Good Time Women (which became Tumbling Dice). Although “Exile” is a great title (based on the band’s tax problems), it could have just as easily been called “Song of the South”. It has roots in American blues, country, rockabilly and R & B from our southern states, played better than most Americans ever will.

Hear the original radio ad for “Exile on Main Street” here

Exiled From the 70′s is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Mr. Elk!

Elk’s “Honey Range EP” is a CD that for about a month, had fallen by the wayside. It was released only limitedly in the begining of December and I neglected to download it until I returned to this log cabin in January. Since I finally recovered it’s digital-only files, it’s been a non-stop play for me at home and on both of my radio shows (Cabinet of Curiosities bows down to it every week).

Ellie Greenwich!

Mr. Elk (as some like to call him, his real name is Justin Stein) was originally inspired by Ellie Greenwich of 60s pop song-writing greatness and the repetitiveness of drone and Steve Reich. The result of this inspiration is a 4-track EP that boasts girl-group orchestral pop ushered in by the sounds of thunder and filtered by a cloud of fuzz and fog. Later tracks are beautiful psych pop songs woven with church choir-like shrills, primal cricket-like beats, and the sounds of the ocean.

The first two track on the EP (the less noisy ones, I’m only partially sorry to say) are on his myspace.

They’re certainly worth listening, but I don’t think your mind will blow with those quite as much as it will with the other two (Big Splash and Cliff Diving), so go on, get searching (or, of course, listen to Cabinet of Curiosities tomorrow at 9pm!)

60s girl groups + sounds of thunder + psych noise joy!! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Dadfag kills it

We love (a brand new “we love”): Dadfag. Yes, offensive. Yes, dirty dirty grimy thrashy and sexy. Dadfag’s newest record is called “Scenic Abuse” and was described as a mix of Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, and hardcore punk. Dear god I’m in love. Give it a listen here. Also, these guys are from San Francisco so if you need some more sweat in your life you can probably catch them live. You know. All the time.

You’re offensive is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

YAWN

Okay, not quite a tropical adventure, per se, for there are no vines in this album but I swear I can hear monkeys hooting in the background. The album in question? Yawn‘s self-titled debut EP which sounds like a mix of Capybara, Animal Collective, and Vampire Weekend. Seriously. I think this album is the love-child of college radio. “Kind of Guy” is a catchy island tune that feels like yucky oh my gosh fun. Following that track is the perfect Animal Collective rip-off (I mean this in the best way possible), “David”. I love this one. Primal call-and-response style calling with simple percussion and the sounds of a rainforest in the background. Okay, I’m not sure if the rainforest is actually there but it’s kind of implied. Please go listen to this nowwwww! This is their myspace. David is on there and it is reallllly worth a listen. Also worth a listen? Everything on KZSC, including the shows that are gonna play the bazooka out of this.

YAWN: not-so-boring tropical adventure is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

cats & trains!

Another update straight from the envelope to you! Yeah that’s right, this is getting to YOU before it’s even getting to our DJs (how’s that for exclusive?!). The album in waiting is “The Roots, The Leaves” by Cars & Trains. The album rides on my favorite musical goodies such as tape samples, banjos, children’s toys, organs and loops loops loops. The album is bedroom-intimate and very much a story-telling album but told through the medium of a bedroom full of toys that also happens to be filled with fog. Just gloomy enough to be believable (disclaimer: I don’t know why I believe people more when they’re gloomy, but I do) and still musically complex enough to not simply be a boy and his poems. The sound to me overall sounds like a combination of Why?, Okay, and The Microphones. In short, wonderful. This is good wintertime music, too, so listen up for it (click here for the myspace!)!

Mail Call: Cars & Trains (and whistles and bells?) is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz